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This is one of the most moving pictures I've ever seen. I just wanted to share it with you.

Caritatis in Veritate: papal encyclical calls for new moral approach to global economy Jul. 7, 2009 (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has released the text of Caritatis in Veritate, the long-awaited social encyclical in which Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) calls for "a profoundly new way of understanding business enterprise" and a global economic system that values the common good above private profits. Explaining the title of the encyclical, Pope Benedict writes that the social teachings of the Catholic Church offer a means of appraising the secular world, judging social and economic systems against a clear moral standard. The guiding...

NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, July 7, 2009 – Soldiers from the 554th Military Police Company out of Stuttgart, Germany, are assessing polling sites here for next month’s Afghan elections. Army Sgt. 1st Class John Moyle gives a child a high-five while pulling security watch during polling-site assessments in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, July 1, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Elizabeth K. Raney   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Sgt. 1st Class John Moyle, a platoon sergeant for 1st Platoon, 554th Military Police Company who hails from Sunbury, Pa., said the purpose of the missions is to assess local security...

The character Goldfinger may have been based on a German spymaster who plotted to blow up gold reserves at the Bank of England THE inspiration for Goldfinger, the arch villain created by Ian Fleming to rival James Bond, could have been a German spymaster who plotted to blow up gold reserves at the Bank of England. Andrew Cook, a historian who specialises in intelligence affairs, has found new evidence that suggests Auric Goldfinger’s fictional plans to destroy all the gold in Fort Knox may have been based on a conspiracy to bankrupt Britain on the eve of the first world...

President Obama says government will make health care cheaper and better. But there's no free lunch. In England, health care is "free"—as long as you don't mind waiting. People wait so long for dentist appointments that some pull their own teeth. At any one time, half a million people are waiting to get into a British hospital. A British paper reports that one hospital tried to save money by not changing bedsheets. Instead of washing sheets, the staff was encouraged to just turn them over. Obama insists he is not "trying to bring about government-run healthcare." "But government management does...

The Baltic trio of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia are lucky. At the end of the day, they can count on Swedish banks and the full might of the Swedish state to shield them from economic disaster. The picture is messier in the Balkans, a region with eight times the population (55m) and no obvious Big Brother at hand, and messiest of all is Bulgaria where Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov inherits what he calls "the complete collapse of the country" after crushing the ruling socialists in elections over the weekend. The former karate coach, who learned his politics as body-guard to...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE MAREZ-EAST, Iraq, July 7, 2009 – Army Sgt. 1st Class JennyAnne Bright believes noncommissioned officers have to practice what they preach. Army Sgt. 1st Class JennyAnne Bright re-enlists at Contingency Operating Site Marez-East, Iraq. The former drill sergeant and current Sergeant Audie Murphy Club member holds herself and those around her to high standards. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "Soldiers look up to NCOs, because NCOs hold themselves and their soldiers to the highest standards," said Bright, shower laundry and clothing repair noncommissioned officer for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 18th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion,...

Barack Obama offers to scrap missile shield in return for help from Russia with Iran Tony Halpin in Moscow President Obama put the Kremlin to the test yesterday by offering to scrap a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe if it helped to stop Iran building a nuclear bomb. He used the second day of the Reset Summit in Moscow to urge a new era of partnership between Russia and the US in combating the spread of nuclear weapons to rogue states and terrorists. “That is why we should be united in opposing North Korea’s efforts to become a nuclear...

Much of the backlog of cases in our over-burdened courts has been created by the courts themselves, with adventurous judicial "interpretations" of laws that leave a large gray area of uncertainty around even the most plainly written legislation. Lawyers of course fish in these troubled waters, creating much needless litigation, but it is judges who have troubled the waters in the first place. Nowhere is this more true than in civil rights cases. Since the Constitution of the United States and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 both decree equal treatment for all, there should not be nearly as much...

Barack Obama’s “passion index” rating dropped to the lowest level of his presidency, according to the latest Rasmussen polling. Thirty-six percent of respondents now strongly disapprove of his performance, compared to 33% who strongly approve, giving him a -3 rating. The poll does not completely cover the period of time since the last unemployment report, meaning that he may still drop further:

GALICE - Laura Bush walked down the concrete boat ramp at Almeda Park with four lifelong friends from Midland, Texas, to begin a three-day raft trip down the wild Rogue River. The former first lady graciously granted an interview, clad in long sleeves, long pants and a wide hat like her four pals on this sunny Monday morning. More of this story

Researchers are tracking a golden eagle found in southwestern Wisconsin to learn if this western bird is broadening its range. Golden eagles are relatively unknown in Minnesota, infrequently seen, counted in small numbers and for a long time thought to be lone wanderers from the west. These huge brown birds do winter here, however. They hunt for prey on the steep grassy slopes in the driftless area. Any given winter, about five dozen golden eagles cross the Mississippi River from Minnesota to Wisconsin and back. Goldens are essentially birds of western North America. They nest all the way up to...

Another casual Obama-Gorbachev meeting Did former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev vet President Barack Obama’s address before Obama delivered it to graduates of the New Economic School in Moscow this morning? According to President Obama’s Schedule Today from the CBSNews Political Hotsheet, Obama spent the sum total of 15 minutes with Gorbachev immediately prior to delivery of the New Economic School address. There were no pictures of Obama and Gorbachev together, but Gorbachev attended the address and Radio Free Europe has the photograph to prove it.(here). The beaming smiles of Barack and Michelle Obama gave lie to the lukewarm reception by...

Political analyst and Republican Party strategist Roger Stone tells Newsmax.TV that he disagrees with the chattering class in Washington and believes the only way Sarah Palin could remain a viable presidential candidate in 2012 or beyond was to leave the governorship of Alaska. ““First of all, her administration is mired down by these nuisance lawsuits and ethics complaints from every garden variety left-wing nut paralyzing the state government,” Stone says, noting Palin is governor at a time when the drop in oil prices is contracting her state economy. “There’s no plus in Sarah Palin staying as governor of Alaska.” Stone...

Jeb Bush will be back in DC this week to present a Council on Foreign Relations-sponsored report on immigration policy that calls for a path to legalization for illegal immigrants -- a position shared by his brother, former president George W. Bush. The task force -- co-chaired by Bush and Mack McLarty, former President Bill Clinton's chief of staff -- argues that "the failure to reform immigration laws and procedures threatens to harm America's economy, jeopardize its diplomacy, and weaken its national security." The report urges Congress and the Obama administration to undertake a new effort with three central components:...

Joe Biden's weekend statement that the administration misread how bad the economy really was, had been celebrated as just another gaffe by Obama's "Minister of LOL." Fact is that it was not another screw-up by Joe six-pack, it was part of a clearly orchestrated campaign by the Obama administration to make an excuse for the failure of the President's economic policy of high taxes, government control of major industry, and over spending. The basic contention of the administration is that the estimates were made before they knew the economy was contracting at a annual rate of 6%. Not only were...

Former Gitmo Inmate Leading Fight Against U.S. in Helmand As U.S. forces are pushing ahead with the massive Operation Khanjar in the southern Afghanistan province of Helmand, Mullah Zakir is leading the Taliban fight against them. FOXNews.com Tuesday, July 07, 2009 A former Guantanamo Bay inmate is leading the fight against U.S. Marines in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, a senior U.S. defense official confirmed to FOX News on Tuesday. Mullah Zakir, also known as Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, surrendered in Mazar-e-Sharif in Northern Afghanistan in 2001, and was transferred to Gitmo in 2006. He was released in late 2007 to...

Severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with lower cognitive function in older adults, according to research from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Researchers compared cognitive performance in over 4,150 adults with and without COPD and found that individuals with severe COPD had significantly lower cognitive function than those without, even after controlling for confounding factors such as comorbidities.

President Obama could have taken advantage of the uprising in Iran by standing with the anti-government protesters. He could have used the moment to promote Iranian democracy and hinder Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. The United States could have led a multinational effort to impose tough sanctions on the regime, as it previously did with Communist-era Poland and apartheid-era South Africa. Unfortunately, the U.S. showed no such leadership. Had we demonstrated solidarity with the Iranian people and their democratic demands, no European country (not even Russia) could have opposed sanctioning a regime whose brutality and unpopularity had been witnessed by...

Did you know you can be a farmer without even getting a single crumb of dirt under your fingernails? Several months ago, I was introduced to and somewhat reluctantly joined the social-networking Web site Facebook. I signed up to keep in touch with my colleagues in the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program (now Leadership Wisconsin). Realizing that this Facebook stuff could quickly eat up a lot of time if I allowed it to, I made a pact with myself not to explore the site very much or even log in every day. It seems a couple of Facebook friends of mine...